Can someone explain the lure of selective colleges?

[Anonymous]

State land-grant grad here. It never occurred to me to apply to HYP types, nor have any of my kids shown any interest. Is this a class divide? Regional? (I grew up in the Midwest) Is it a financial thing, where making the highest salary possible is the goal? I know this is a stupid question, but I enjoy learning what makes people tick, and this baffles me.

[Anonymous]

To compete with the best & brightest & most highly motivated.

To get a shot at the best jobs & internships.

Prestige.

Money.

Exposure to a more diverse group of peers.

To broaden one's knowledge & experience beyond that available at the in-state flagship.

To expand one's thinking & appreciation of differences.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the midwest, applied to a bunch of these colleges, and attended one. For me, I wanted the experience of having a peer group that felt as quirky and freaky smart as me. I had a terrific experience, though the real world kind of sucks in comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To compete with the best & brightest & most highly motivated.

To get a shot at the best jobs & internships.

Prestige.

Money.

Exposure to a more diverse group of peers.

To broaden one's knowledge & experience beyond that available at the in-state flagship.

To expand one's thinking & appreciation of differences.

No. Just the prestige. You can get there rest at a hundred other colleges too.

[Anonymous]

I think you can study with "the best and the brightest" at any top 50 schools or beyond. The only thing is prestige (most everyone knows Harvard). In terms of diversity, probably not true at HYP esp socioeconomic diversity. These schools continue to hugely favor the wealthy. In terms of making money in the future, that really is much more dependent on the student and his/her major.

[Anonymous]

The lure is as much (if not more) for the parents than the students who stake their "reputations" on getting their child into one. Just read some of recent USNWR ranking threads if you don't believe me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To compete with the best & brightest & most highly motivated.

To get a shot at the best jobs & internships.

Prestige.

Money.

Exposure to a more diverse group of peers.

To broaden one's knowledge & experience beyond that available at the in-state flagship.

To expand one's thinking & appreciation of differences.

No. Just the prestige. You can get there rest at a hundred other colleges too.

Ignorance is bliss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you can study with "the best and the brightest" at any top 50 schools or beyond. The only thing is prestige (most everyone knows Harvard). In terms of diversity, probably not true at HYP esp socioeconomic diversity. These schools continue to hugely favor the wealthy. In terms of making money in the future, that really is much more dependent on the student and his/her major.

I lost all respect for Harvard etc. since I learned that 50-70% (sometimes more) of the entering freshmen class consists of legacies, recruited athletes, URMs, donors, VIPs, celebrities' offsprings, Faculty & staff's children etc. etc. You no longer have the best and the brightest there.

Certainly there would be some stars and the average quality would be good but I would much choose a school that selects most (70-90%) of the students on merit basis.

[Anonymous]

You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you can study with "the best and the brightest" at any top 50 schools or beyond. The only thing is prestige (most everyone knows Harvard). In terms of diversity, probably not true at HYP esp socioeconomic diversity. These schools continue to hugely favor the wealthy. In terms of making money in the future, that really is much more dependent on the student and his/her major.

I lost all respect for Harvard etc. since I learned that 50-70% (sometimes more) of the entering freshmen class consists of legacies, recruited athletes, URMs, donors, VIPs, celebrities' offsprings, Faculty & staff's children etc. etc. You no longer have the best and the brightest there.

Certainly there would be some stars and the average quality would be good but I would much choose a school that selects most (70-90%) of the students on merit basis.

Agreed. And they continue to refuse to stop accepting applicants based on legacy or athletic abilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

And now that you have money, where are you sending your kids? And why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

I would argue that it's better to make your own money than marrying into money. If you get both, even better.

[Anonymous]

An obvious allure is that if your family makes say $100,000 you can attend most of the top schools for free or nearly free. No idea what your state "land-grant" school might offer...perhaps the same because of the stats you have to attend one of the top schools (??). BTW...only on DCUM does anybody refer to schools as land-grant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An obvious allure is that if your family makes say $100,000 you can attend most of the top schools for free or nearly free. No idea what your state "land-grant" school might offer...perhaps the same because of the stats you have to attend one of the top schools (??). BTW...only on DCUM does anybody refer to schools as land-grant.

Well, yeah, I referred to it that way so people could see where I'm coming from. I give the name of the school if someone asks in real life, but the details aren't important here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

Is this that attractive, though? We're not wealthy ($250k HHI), but upper middle class is good enough to let us do the things we want. Are there that many people honestly wanting more? Seems stressful.